


The lotus of Mercy and Wily Doll.

by A_servant_of_Krishna



Category: Rockman X | Mega Man X, Rockman | Mega Man - All Media Types, Touhou Project
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Byakuren is a Hare Krishna because she saw Nirvana once and she had enough, Byakuren is op, Canon Rewrite, Don't try to kill Krishna's devote... or God willl wreck you good., Gen, He name is Bahula, I had a stupid idea, Magic, Mind Break, Or Is It?, Sigma is deader then dead..., X can't comprehend her, X's sanity is mangoing, his mistake, id didn;t want to leave me, the virus is more then just a virus
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-06
Updated: 2021-03-03
Packaged: 2021-03-17 10:34:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 18,107
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28598523
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/A_servant_of_Krishna/pseuds/A_servant_of_Krishna
Summary: Byakuren, now Bahula Devi Dasi, had been sent to hokkai again because someone didn't like her new life's choice, thankfully, her dear friend Shinki bailed her out...in space.Good thing too, otherwise, the blond doll would have crashed in a metal palanquin ship.
Comments: 5
Kudos: 1





	1. Chapter 1

Chapter one.

In the stratosphere, a tragedy of planetary proportion was unfolding. The space Colony Eurasia, now filled with the ever so destructive maverick virus, was falling down on earth like an inauspicious and deadly, man-made meteorite.

the crash would turn the once blue planet into a mass grave, its ecosystem already struggling from the robotic revolution, world war III and of course, the mavericks.

To try to stop the aluminum and silicate glass behemoth was a lone shuttle filed with a three nuclear payload. Inside, a brave reploid drove the nuclear load into the falling artificial continent with the hope that it would break it apart and mitigate its impact on the already struggling earth.

The reploid's name was Zero... and this was how he chose to die. The prime carrier of the Maverick virus knew what ought to be done, he knew he could not remain alive lest this nightmare continues.

Inside the shuttle's cockpit, fear became his last companion, together, they would lead him on a date with death...

This story...you have seen heard and read it so often, and you all know how it will end...

The reploid in red heard the countdown, he had ten seconds left to live...nine, eight...

seven...

Six...

Five...

the side of the space colony was coming in quick, Zero had no chance...he could not turn back, not that turning back had been his intention anyway.

As for Ejecting? No, it was too late for that also, and the re-entry won't be as kind as a head-on collision.

He screamed...pushing the rocket's engines in its final trusts and...

.. the Rocket was shredded to pieces, the Atomic charge was thrown to outer space and Zero found himself in the arms of someone too soft to be made out of metal...and still flying at terminal velocity towards the Eurasia station.

Zero's CPU tried to make sense of what had just happened, only for him to be steered _away_ from the virulent colony and around it a few times at a decreasing speed...and then entered one of the maintenance hubs that should be sealed...

No, wait. It had been ripped open by superman...since at this point, Zero would no be surprised at all.

The person dropped in a place that they probably tough safe (the place was supersaturated with the maverick Virus...Zero may be in a good place to heal, but...the whole colony would impact earth in twenty-minute.)

Hopefully destroying him.

The red Hero whirled around to face whatever alien being had doomed the world...only to come face to face with a ... a woman matching him in height, dressed in a black and white dress, a red cape floating off from her back, golden-eyed and... purple and brown hair.

After reviewing the image, he realized that the woman wore a black coat over a white dress and black fabric covering her feet, white length of fabric tied her sleeves and foot covering securely...

and yes, her hair was natural...it was long, wavy and... there was a mark on her forehead and nose...

Ų

' _What does it mean?... And what is she holding?'_ Zero wondered as he openly stared at what seemed to be a scroll-shaped hologram...without the hardware.

There was no way a holographic projector could fit in those two purple sticks...there was just now way.

A warning appeared in Zero's U.I, they were exiting the stratosphere...and entering the atmosphere.

He had failed his mission...all due to this...this...

Human woman that didn't need oxygen or even normal pressurized condition.

Said human woman took his hand, patted them a few times as if offering Zero some comfort and proving that...yes, she was indeed a human. Then flew went out the maintenance door and... sealed them shut. Leaving Zero in the over-saturated viral environment.

He closed his eyes as he felt the virus merge with its original source...it's siren song too sweet to ignore. And purpose...revived.

* * *

Outside the falling Space colony Eurasia, Byakuren-

"Bahula Devi Dasi dear."

Right...Bahula Devi Dasi flew out of the falling Eurasia colony and quickly went under its hull, calling onto her magic to cast the oldest spell in her book, Myouren's levitation spell.

Usually, this would be cast on an unmoving target, either a building or the Palaquin-temple-ship. But this was not the usual situation, nor was this a best-case scenario, quite the opposite, really.

This was an emergency, Bahula had no idea whom she had saved from a gruesome death -save that he was a blond tsukumogami- but one thing was for sure, it would be a learning experience.

She could see the fire born of the hull's friction with the oxygen...and she could feel the heat after the numbing cold of inner space...

' _Huh...After Makai, they tried to send me to space.'_ A little smile lit Bahula's lips.

She had tried to preach something other than the empty tenet of Buddhism. Something that spoke on the eternality of the soul and of God as a person...as the supremely beautiful Sri-Krishna. And how to stop worrying and to simply love Him as He Is.

meaning as the most beautiful cowherd boy, the son of mother Yashoda and the Trenscentental love of Srimati-Radharani.

Vaishnavism was the religion of the soul, the person that was the source of consciousness, and bliss.

It expounded three great truths, the first being that Krishna was the supreme personality of Godhead, the eternally individual souls were meant to serve him with love. The Goal of existence was to resume their eternal relationship as Master and servant, friend and friend, Son and parent and even lover and beloved. And the way to reach this goal was through the process called Sadhana-Bhakti, or the process of loving service to the Lord following the rules and regulation until one developed pure and spontaneous love for Him.

And no, it was not to merge in the universe...or in his impersonal aspect. For this was but a temporary respite before one inheritance nature as the ever-active as the eternal individual pushed them to return to the world of mater and mystery... the wold of illusion.

One was never meant to be alone and unfeeling. The soul simply wasn't happy in the Brahma-Jyoti. It was but temporary.

Bahula should know, for she had reached Nirvana...and had run away from it, desiring to be with her family once more.

she still acted as if she believed in the teaching of Buddha, at least when it concerned dealing with life's' hardship and how to deal with people with love without attachment.

this had lasted until she had met a certain Madri, a simple Bhati-Yogist that Yukari had spirited away...for some unknown reasons. save maybe for the fact that she carried with her a treasure trove of revealed scriptures.

And..after meeting this travelling Vaishnavi, had jumped the boat, as they say.

The teaching of the great saint had been a literal revelation and a balm to Bahula's heart. It gave her hope... and something more than spiritual suicide as the ultimate goal of life. The Sacred Vaishnava hymns were also so sweet to her ears and heart.

But, as with everything in Bahula's life, her path towards self-realization had been fraught with danger and many obstacles.

Someone... whom Bahula considered a very dear and near friend...had not been very happy about that, and, with the help of some pseudo-Gods and Goddess living in Gensokyo, had managed to reopen the rift to Hokkai.

Thankfully, her dearest friend and teacher Shinki had caught her in time...and had sent her to space...for some obscure reason. Not only that, but this place looked nothing like what she thought space should look like... and the earth looked markedly different also.

But then, there was also the possibility that her stint in Hokkai had lasted longer than anticipated...and that Krishna had sent his cow at another time where she would be more needed.

Oh the Lord of all universes had sent Bahula to another Brahmanda...it would not be that hard for him.

' _And indeed I was...thank you, my Lord, by your action, a poor Tsukumogami had been saved from a terrible faith.'_ Byakuren praised the master of her master as she flew in front of the burning...

Was it a space Colony? Sudevi (Sanae) had shown her so many animated plays about some oversized armour fighting in outer space...and man-made planets that always seemed to be in danger of destruction.

' _Ara ara...Oh Krishna, thank you for preparing me for such ordeal, otherwise, I would not have been mentally prepared to so acting so quickly.'_ She prayed as she gently began to slow the crashing death trap without breaking anything inside.

Mystic powers had their uses...other than making one 'ever-young', that is.

She wasn't sure if any human beings were left inside, she just knew her blond friend was there...

And it would be rude of her to let her new friend get hurt. And whatever was inside.

Now out of the ozone layer, Bahula could finally feel the incredible negative pressure of space rise, she was in the proper terrestrial atmosphere. And the colony was descending at the same speed the Myouren would travel in the sky.

With a satisfied smile, the saint of the white lotus manoeuvred the oversized space village so that she could easily land it...

where tough, was quite the question, probably the sea... or maybe in a mountain range. Nepal perhaps?

But as she came down, she realized something terrible...there was no greenery, no forest...and no lacs... only a few patches here and there...

the earth was barren... and clouds of miasma covered her surface, she could see very few cities, and almost no villages. What was left seemed to be huge futuristic capitols with nothing else around but uninhabitable waste-lands.

' _Oh Krishna...what happened to mother earth?"_ Bahula wondered as she descended, she felt sick by the sight...

' _Let me fist land this_ _palanquin._ _..and then I can see what you want me to do here_ _Gaura_ _. Let me be of use to you, let me be the_ _instrument of your mercy."_ she prayed as she found the perfect place to land.

She began her descent at her earnest, feeling the Miasma at her back...or something that felt and acted like the miasma she had soaked in for close to a millennium.

' _It feels like I'm right beside the tear between Gensokyo and Makai.'_ A small smile lit the saint's lips.

As she lowered the space colony...some very peculiar Youkai came to greet her. they were very colourful and metallic. And they were also as fast as a drunk tengu on a Monday morning. They passed by her...twice, screeching like a flock of harpies.

On the second pass, they launched something at her...and the colony.

She only had a fraction of a second to boost her defence to an unimaginable level, just in time to take the brunt of the missile impact.

' _Oh My, what a reception._ ' Bahula thought as she felt some explosion on the top of the glass dome. _'Well...I can't let them hurt my friend now...Oh, Gauranga, please forgive, me, I have to use some force now.'_ Waving her scroll, she selected a spell card she hope would deter those jet fighters without killing them.

Hopefully.

Those poor things probably thought she was a demon...and they would not be wrong.

* * *

Back in HQ pure Chaos reigned.

This was not how it was supposed to happen, this was...this was impossible.

Zero's mission had a high success rate, despite its grim end.

Yes, Lifesaver had assured Zero's partner that the Red Hero would and could eject from the atomically loaded shuttle way before it would hit. But truth be told, they all knew the chance of it succeeding was low.

X had been devastated...but had held on, knowing That Zero would not want him to lose it at a most critical time. And yet...

And yet, as the countdown to impact had started...he had felt as his life had ended. And the closer to zero it went...the closer to God X turned to, going as far as to pray to this very human concept to somehow or other, save Zero.

And it had happened, despite all odds, the shuttle had been destroyed by what could only be an angel, and his partner whisked away inside the viral environment.

No, Neither X of Life-Saver knew why Zero's system would repair itself in contact with the virus...

Well, both had a clue, but it was a possibility X never wanted to entertain...

But despite this miraculous event, the Eurasia viralized ecosystem was still plummeting toward the earth!

Well...Not quite. A woman of human appearance seemed to be holding the behemoth of a structure as she gently flew it down. Signas had ordered a pair of remote-controlled drones to investigate her...and to take her down.

She may look human...but they could not be completely certain for her entire body was covered.

It had made X 'nauseous' at the thought. For his highly advanced sensor, even through a screen, it was clear she was at the very least organic. For synth-Skin didn't bruise like that, and what flowed from her forehead was clearly not oil. For oil didn't flow like blood.

How did she get wounded? X had no clue... but Signas, after the failed murder had given the order that all humans remain in the underground bunker. while it would not be as catastrophic as having the dead space colony fall from orbit down to earth, the damage would still be massive.

And then, another miracle happened...two of them, in fact.

The missile had struck the mysterious entity head-on...and yet, she was still alive, a rainbow coloured corona of...a cipher spinning around her head like a CD.

And then...the entire...

The entirety of the Eurasia viral colony was covered with what amounted to a cloud of fast-moving purple bullets. Those bullets completely shredding the two drones and obscuring what was happening with the... entity of terrifying power.

This was what caused the absolute chaos happening in HQ...that, and the fact that she had landed the entire space Colony down someplace between the old border of China and India...in a Nepalese valley surrounded by mountains and destruction.

It was there that the somewhat damaged, virus filled Colony landed...and this would be were X, the only Reploid able to withstand the Sigma virus, would be dispatched.

And this was where...Zero was waiting for him. And this mysterious being of unfathomable power.

At least, it was not overtly Sigma.

* * *

The light faded, and X reopened his eyes to what had once been the green and lush Kathmandu, now render a desert due to climate change.

And in the middle of the valley, floating without a sound, was the viral nest. It loomed between the needle-like mountains like a dark promise, the plague pouring out of the damaged hull and onto the valley. Its dome was as dark as sin...and X could already feel the virus dancing on his armour.

[X, this is Alia.] His operator contacted him. [I'm detecting a critical amount of air-born virus coming from the colony.] she uselessly informed her ground unit who could simply stare at the beautiful catastrophe with resignation.

[Do we have any luck contacting Zero?] He asked, not bothering to hide his anxiety.

Alia remained silent...it did not bode well. [No...he's not dead but...his communication's down, and he's not sending any pings.]

[So how do you know he's alive?]

[Eurasia didn't crash, and we all know how Zero can repair himself if enough virus is around.]

[Yes...I know...] But X just had the feeling something terrible had happened to his partner. Sigma had completely taken over and corrupted the space colony, and most unshielded technology in the world at large...and now.

' _Was this plan a success? Or is it a failure?'_ X wondered. _'Eurasia didn't crash and thus, there's still_ _something_ _to be saved...but the closed_ _environment_ _had been preached, and the virus is flowing out like a river, meaning...'_ He clenched his jaws.

' _No...There must be a way...there has to be a way...But first, let me find Zero. Maybe he has some clues about this mysterious woman.'_ And with that, X dashed to the salvaged wreck...hoping he would be able to find Zero and the mysterious woman before Sigma.

As expected, the place he was in was an absolute visual nightmare, colours kept changing, and he never was sure whether what he was standing was real or not. Still, Zero had to be found, Sigma...who was behind, destroyed again and... _find a clue_ _about_ _the anomaly._

For all X knew, This woman was a manifestation of the virus. Maybe, she was the virus...

A tentative smile spread on X's usually dour face. Maybe he could try and reason with her...he had nothing else to lose at that point.

He traverses the digitized realm, Fighting the cyber-image of mechalinoids and a shadow devil...

He had sustained quite a lot of damage from the dark fiend...and Ranga Banga. _'I have no idea what Ranga's designer wanted to make...but he did got the job done.'_ He grumbled as he managed to fix his bent-out knee with whatever he had managed to gather.

"Oh...Excuse me? Do you need any help?" A woman asked...

X whirled around to face...whoever had spoken to him. And he was not surprised to see the alien that had abducted Zero.

She had spoken in ancient Japanese...and she looked completely organic saved for purple and brown hair... the virus that flowed out of her like a river.

X stared...

She was organic... she had a heartbeat...she had a pulse...

She was Human...

She was not...she was the source of another strain of virus...and yet her body was not made of it...

she was not glitching...she was really in from of his...a human was in danger...

She was someone to be protected...

she was a maverick human...

Mavericks had to be eliminated...

She was human... she had to be protected...

She was maverick... she had to be eliminated...

"What are you?" X managed to choke out as he managed to stave off a crash of his logic center...she was infected...but this was impossible. Unless...

"Oh, I'm a witch." She said as if this was the same as being a human or a reploid. "Well, I'm a soul in a human-shaped body that can make magic... So, a witch."

X could feel his logic center struggling. "Are you...is a witch the same as a human...or a reploid?"

" Human..." The human answered, looking at X with deep concern. "My name is Bahula Devi Dasi...a human turned witch who serves Krishna, Or God. And who are you? And is everything alright?"

This did not help...at all... "No...no...you...you got infected...Humans can't get infected...you are maverick...but you are a-"

"My son? What is the matter? Have I done something-"

But X didn't hear the rest...his struggling processor crashing over the fact that he was the son of a maverick human witch...

* * *

Bahula stared at the paralyzed Tsukumogami, the poor thing's eyes had turned from vivid green to grey, and he seemed to be stuck in a very awkward pose.

"Oh Krishna...I hope I didn't kill him." The saintly witch prayed, she could already see the other's reaction to this.

And then she realized...he looked quite different then any other Tsukumogami she knew. He had no...the item he considered his body was nowhere to be seen. And Bahula was fully aware that a Tsukumogami without his object was as good as dead.

' _Speaking of which, I don't think my blond fried had as the item he's attached to either..."_

And then...it hit her!

Those were not Tsukumogami...those were _robots_! Automatons moved by electrical currents.

"Oh Krishna...I feel like I stepped in one of Sudevi's sci-fi shows." She put a hand to her head, now realizing that she definitely wasn't in Gensokyo anymore. "But how...how could this have happened? Last I've heard, the earth was still green and..." An absolutely horrific realization hit her...

What if...

What if her last stint in Hokkai, had been longer than she had thought?

Bahula sighed as she approached the crashed automaton...There nothing much she could do save serve Krishna.

And she would...despite her current situation.

"Now...think Bahula, what would Krishna want you..." She paused for a bit. "Krishna dear, what would you have me do about this robot. is it alive? He did look like it...but is there a soul inside? Or is it just a fancy doll programmed to act like a human?"

Listening to Param-Atma, Bahula approached the human-shaped computer and, following a divine hunch, applied her hand to his heart...

Her eyes widened. "Oh...you...You're a Jiva..." She murmured as she checked his charka points and Nadi.

And indeed, it was a living entity, his body somehow made of metal. He was extremely confused, tired and emotionally drained.

"Oh, my child..." She patted his blue helmet. "You have done well. Now rest, I will take care of you." She spoke to the unresponsive X as she picked him up a tad awkwardly.

His entire body was as stiff as a board. And if not for his natural energetically signature, Bahula would've thought he had died was already entering rigour mortis at a rate only a certain Bankai had achieved.

But he was rather light for how solid he was built, even lighter than Uma (Miko) even.

"Well Mister blue, I don't think you can remain here, not in your state anyway," she spoke to the mysterious doll-like being. Suddenly, she felt him move...and struggle.

"n-no...I have to...find...Find Zero...S...Stop S-Sigma..." He managed to say.

"Oh Child, just rest. I will find your friend and stop Sigma..." She paused. "Can you tell me how I can differentiate one from the other?" she asked, not willing to kill the friend by accident.

"Z-Zer-o...Blond... tall...red..." He managed to choke out, his whole body shaking as he struggles against a mysterious malaise.

"Got it...and may I know who you are? Just so your friend knows I'm not I'm with you," she asked as she used her magic to sooth

"E-Eks...X..."And once again, the blue soulless doll became still, and Bahula carefully carried him out of the Hokkai-like area and to a cave in one of the mountains. There, she laid him on the ground wrapped in her red cape, she kissed his head as she cast a powerful protective charm around the cave.

Those who came in with ill intent would be struck by lighting.

"May Lord Nashima-deva protect your life...and may you return to Krishna's lotus feet." And with that, the saint of the white lotus once again entered the hellish place...

She had a blond and red robot to find...and A rascal to chastise.

* * *

Navigating the...numerical Hokkai was an interesting affair for the witch. it was not as desolated as the place that had kept her alive yet dead for a millennium, and yet...the atmosphere was not the same, for the type of Miasma was...of two types.

One was vile and filled with unlimited hatred and envy. It was not very potent and seem defuse, tired almost. while the other was neutral yet desperately angry...and confused. Looking for a purpose, a reason to exist.

It reminded Bahula of those poor yokais and humans who had no clue about the supreme goal of life.

And this one was strong, like a pure river gushing out and yet not going out of her bank. But this innocence was easily exploitable for the demoniac one.

' _Whoever is feeling like this, I have to find him.'_ The black and white witch resolved as she navigated the bright and black expanse. She could feel the two... flavours of either mingling and merging, the vile and poisonous one taking over the pure yet confuse river.

She frowned as she managed to trace the source of the energy...what could only be the virus...or whatever the blue child was referring to.

She floated until she found a cave-like area, there, the purple mass of hatred swirled and converged onto a human form...a form that resembled X, yet was much more colourful...and very noticeably blond. He was floating in mid-air, a magenta aura covered his mechanical body while the mixed ether swirled around him like a brewing storm. His eyes were closed, and he seemed serene despite the vile maelstrom that seemed to consume him.

"Ah...and this must be Zero." Bahula spoke up as she approached the blue youth's friend.

Zero opened his eyes, revealing a pair of purple lenses. "No...I am more, Human." he smirked, showing his very impressive sets of fangs.

"Oh, you look just like my Shou." Bahula shamelessly cooed. "And yes, you are indeed more than Zero." Bahula smiled kindly. "You are a spirit soul, just like me."

"Have have nothing in common with you!" Zero snapped. "You are inferior to me, made out of flesh and yet...you still think you can control me." He sneered.

"Oh, I was not talking about our bodily composition Zero. And how can I control you? I can barely control my mind." Bahula admitted with a beatific smile.

"I will kill you." He growled as he pointed at her. "You will be the first human casualty, my first blood." Zero threatened as he flexed his claws. But this only caused Bahula to laughed.

"Oh, I apologized Zero-kun. But you can't kill me...and the body I inhabit is already dead. And I can't really be considered a human anymore." she admitted. "As for some blood...how much do you need to be satisfied?" She asked her sharpened nails already to her wrist. "DO you want all of it? I don't mind, you know."

Zero stared at her... his smile falling.

"So...how much blood do you need? It's not really human blood tough, so it may taste a bit bitter." Bahula admitted.

"Your not human?"

"No...well, yes. But no... "She tried to explain. "I was born of human parents, but through training and dark magic, I became a witch, a yokai."

Zero seemed to freeze...and Bahula worried she may have caused the poor doll to suffer from a mental disruption.

"...You...Who... You're a witch." He stated, pointing at her. "Like, legitimate witch-like those in myths and children's books?"

Bahula blushed. "Well, I am an old woman. And I supposed I did look witch-like before I foolishly gave myself 'eternal youth.'" She explained. "Never the less, you friend, Ekesu, wanted me to find you." she digresses, bringing the conversation back to its point. "He was worried about you, same for me."

Zero Sneered. "My friend?" he spat. "No...you are mistaking. X is my enemy." the red and blond doll declared as he drew a light-sabre. "I will destroy him, as it was written in my destiny!"

"Oh? And why is he your enemy?" Bahula asked, calling onto her scroll to start boosting her bodily strength.

"because his death is my destiny!" Zero declared, clearly annoyed. "As is yours." He took a fighting stance, and Bahula remained tranquil.

"So...your destiny is to kill your friend X?"

"Yes!"

"And after that?" She asked. Tilting her head.

This seemed to catch Zero in a loop. But he recovered quite quickly. "And after that, I will destroy everything, returning everything to the void!" He lurched forward, his offensive clear.

"I am Zero, I am oblivion...and everything shall return to it!"

Bahula Dodge the first slash and the second, using her increased speed, agility and fortitude to parry Zero's attack.

"Why?" She asked again. "What will you gain after turning everything to void? Happiness?"

"Yes!" Zero declared as he upped the pressure, and Bahula buffed her states to match that of the poor soul.

"Why do you think that? Why do you think the void will give you happiness?" She asked as she held Zero's wrist in place, despite their size.

"Because there's no suffering in a void...there's nothing." Zero kicked Bahula in the guts, sending her flying like a wooden toy.

The saintly Vaishnavi hit one of the wall-like constructs, her breath cut off by the hit. She was bout to recover when the poor blond voidist launched himself at the millennial witch, grabbing her by the neck and squeezing it with all of his might.

His hands, being much bigger than the average human should have popped Bahula's head right off from her delicate neck, but thankfully, she had managed to up her resistance to high enough that Zero wouldn't have her death on his head.

Actually, by the sound of it, Zero's arms and fingers were sounding more like they were twisting themselves until...

She heard a whine and the sound of straining motors. Zero's face was twisted in a mix of pain, rage and determination.

' _Oh no! He'll hurt himself if he keeps on pressing! Oh Krishna, I have to stop him, right now.'_ And whit this thought, Bahula grabbed Zero's straining fingers, opened them and took him down as gently as possible.

She made the bewildered soul knelled on the ground as she held his arms behind his back at an angle and pressure that prevented the doll from moving. She made her body heavier than a small hill and pressed her knee onto Zero's back, her left hand on his head.

It was quite uncomfortable for him, no doubt about it. But if Bahula wanted this poor soul to be spared pain, then she would rather make him suffer through some humiliation than an outright fight to bodily destruction.

"So...you desire to merge back in everything and become void, isn't it?" Bahula asked as she held the struggling doll in place. "Then, my son...I grant you a vision of Nirvana!" And with that, the saint of the white lotus cancelled Zero's mind and senses, temporarily freeing the poor soul from his Ego and giving him a taste of the Brahman effulgence...where everything was one.

Then...she took her beads from her neck and began to chant...the attack of the Vaishnava shrine happened during Mangala-Arati, meaning she had no rounds chanted out of sixteen.

' _Yes...I do believe two and a half-hour of impersonal liberation will be enough for Zero to understand my point.'_ She thought as she began to chant.

Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare

Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare


	2. Chapter 2

"X? X, do you copy?" Douglas and Life-saver called out, Trying to find the heroic blue bomber in what was probably the most peaceful and pristine celestial crash site in exorbitance

There had been no increase in pollution, nothing had burned upon the delicate re-entry, and the Virus was well contained by whatever was left of the Colonie's dome.

All in all, things seemed to have gone better than expected...somewhat.

Still, Zero was missing, and Alia had lost all contact with X. And thus...they had sent the two medics to try and find whatever remained of the blue bomber and Zero.

"Douglas..." Lifesaver began. "I don't think X is in any capacity to answer." The tall and hulking medial reploid informed his partner. " I doubt Zero would be foolish enough not to-"

"Hey! Shut it!" Douglas snapped. " Zero would _never_ turn on X. Those two are practically brothers!"

"This means nothing, Douglass..not to a maverick." The doctor spoke grimly.

" _ZERO'S NOT A MAVERICK,"_ Douglas vehemently denied. "Alright, so his bodies practically working in harmony with the virus. But he's _not_ -"

The green medic paused...he had just received a ping from X.

He sent another ping in response, trying to locate their missing blue bomber.

He got another one...he was in a cave not far from here.

The two medical specialists rushed as fast as they could to the location—nothing how...curiously free of maddened mechalinoid the valley was.

There was no trace of the Maverick virus...not much anyway. And most seemed to be on standby.

On a hunch..and because he was programmed to, Life-saver took a few samples of the now much docile plague. Murmuring how he had never experienced something like this before.

Eventually, they came to the entrance of a cave, around the perimeter of its opening were...

"What is the name of Light's first son?" Life-saver murmured as he beheld what was unmistakably a barrier.

A barrier that was had not origin saved for some...light squares that evoked ancient paper talisman of old.

Douglas pinged X again, and again, the blue bomber pinged back. He was still alive...but could not, or would not move.

The green mechanic feared what he would find beyond this point...a dead Zero was not out of the question yet.

They approached the magical...for lack of better words, barrier. It was but a mere shimmer...but Douglas could see some lines in a circle.

He took a snapshot; he would cross-reference it later, when X and Zero would be recovered and in their dedicated repair capsule.

Hopefully.

Life-saver tried to touch the barrier...only to take back his hand as if bitten.

He looked at Douglas, his lips pursed. "I don't think saving X will be as easy as expected." he addressed his close colleague.

"And Zero...Don't forget him," Douglas growled as he tried to figure out how to break through the mysterious barrier. X was there...but if Zero was present, he didn't ping back.

Meaning he was either completely unconscious, not there...or dead.

None of those scenarios were great, but some were worst than others.

"Douglas... You may worship the ground the Red ripper trod on, but do not be blinded." The more robotic of the two warn darkly. "I _know_ he has some connection with the maverick virus. There are no known cases where a reploid is not only immune to the plague but _thriving_ from it!" He spoke meaningfully.

Douglas gritted his teeth. "Hey...you better watch your mouth, greenhorn. I don't like the allegation your giving."

"At that point, those are not allegations; it is a fact." Life-saver coldly stated, holding his now limp arm. It was clear he had tested the barrier with an excruciating result. "I don't think we can get X out..."

"We can still try. There must be a way in..." Douglas said as he desperately looked around and requesting Alia for a map of the place.

He had to save X; he just had to.

Otherwise... how would the rest of the hunters go one without their symbol of hope?

They had already lost Zero; there was no doubt about it. And now... there was this super-powered woman.

They needed hope... not another hero to bury.

"We can't save all of them, Douglas... an right now, Short of uselessly flopping at the other side of the barrier, no one can reach X."

The older medic could only stare in deep shock and disgust at his colleague. "...what?"

" The barrier won't let me pass without giving out a powerful shock...my systems are still reeling from it. No point of crossing it if we can't-"

"No... No, Lifesaver, you can't give up on X. It's... it's X _."_

"It's just another machine..."

"THAT'S IT! I HAD ENOUGH!"Douglas roared as he angrily pointed at the much bulkier lifesaver. "You are a disgrace to eh medical profession, A STAIN ON THE GLORIOUS PAPER OF THE HIPPOCRATIC OAT!"

"I am just realistic here, Douglas..." Life-saver said with the same infuriating tone.

"realistic?" Douglas scoffed. "Get out of here, kid...go back to your lab and play with your computer and telescope." The eldest medic practically spat...

No, he had absolutely no love lost between him and the robotic reploid. Douglas turned his back from the so-called medical unit as he inspected the glyph, trying to make heads or tails of them. And clearly ignoring the pile of emotionless scrap at his back.

Said pile of scrap teleported out, leaving Douglas to try to solve this conundrum.

"Hmm...maybe there's another entrance to this cave..." He hummed as he tried to find an updated map of the region he was in...without much success.

He vented out through his nose. The valley was deathly quiet; only the esoterically floating space colony's metallic moaning filled the audial void.

"That's...not better, to be honest. But beggars can't be choosers." Douglas grumbled. He could swear he had just heard someone giggling to his left.

Then...he walked through the barrier as if it had never been there in the first place...and without any logical explanation.

"Oh...ah...sure ah..." He sniffed, wiping his nose before looking back...

Nope...there was no one, and that whiny slacker was not there either.

He pinged X back, and once again, the blue hero answered.

Don't worry X, I'm coming." he declared as he entered the cave's mouth, his light gun primed and ready.

Inside the cave...no mechalinoid where to be seen, it was empty... and free from whatever Douglas had hoped would be there.

Never the less, it made finding X much more straightforward than anticipated.

And sure enough, there he was, wrapped snugly in a red blanket, in crest-jewel flashing in a sequence that indicated a hard crash for his logic centre.

Douglas openly winced; whatever X had seen or heard, he hoped he would never see it.

"X! X, Do you copy?" The only competent medic asked as he quickly knelled by the unresponsive, blue bomber.

X managed to jankily turned his head toward Douglas, his eyes trying to turn on, but even this seemed to cause him trouble. "Ma...Ma?"

' _Ooh...that's not good.'_ "No, X, I'm not your Mama; I'm just your medic," he informed the thoroughly confused blue hero as he picked him up from the ground. He touched the side of his head, activating his communicator. "Alia, this his Douglas. I got X, but... don't expect anything from him at the moment, his processor's got scrambled something fierce...and I don't see Zero anywhere."

[Oh no...] Was Alia's dismayed response.

"I think our mysterious flying nun may be behind this tough," Douglas informed the best and foremost Navigator. " X's been wrapped in her red cape, and she made a magic barrier. Life-saver could not breach it."

[So I've heard.] Came the blond's wry response.

[God bless your saintly patience Alia, I couldn't handle it.] Douglas readily admitted. "Alright...ready to get out of there. Zero's nowhere to be seen, and the area is...Well, X got some virus on him, but...it's doesn't feel like anything I've experienced before."

[meaning?...and why are you not afraid of the Virus Douglas?] Alia asked, clearly on edge. [If he's hot... oh, we can't lose you... not you too.]

[Alia... I'm wet-ware, remember?] Douglas reminded her, using the old code for Cyborg.

There was a reason why he was the primary physician in H.Q... the virus could not affect the human brain.

Or course, Douglas also knew some humans that could easily check all the diagnosis boxes for maverikism, but... that was another story entirely.

[Alright, I'll see you there, Doug... be careful.]

[I will.]

Douglas sighed as he picked X up from the ground, noticing how the afflicted blue bomber held onto the cape like a child a blanket.

He sighed again... this was going to be a fascinating evening and night.

* * *

Back at Zero-space... Bahula had just finished chanting her prescribed numbers of rounds. Her mind was under control, her heart was cleaner, whatever niggling fear was gone, and the source of the vile and putrid miasma had attained liberation.

No, Bahula did not even look for him...the thing, a demon made of half-melted metallic flesh, had tried screaming at her...and the next thing she knew, the Lord's Sudarshana Chakra ended his miserable existence in a flash.

The whole thing had lasted for no longer than three seconds, and the saint quickly forgot it...saved for the fact that _God had just sent his divine weapon to protect a demon from a ghost_.'

Well...He could do as he liked, and Bahula devi dasi was fine with that.

Nevertheless, two hours and a half had passed with close to no disturbances, and for Zero, quite a few millenniums had already gone by.

She shuddered; Bahula was never one to give such a harsh punishment for one so wounded. But mister X's friend had left her no choice.

She picked Zero from the mockery of solid ground and flew out of his off-shoot of Makai. Carefully navigating the maze-like confine and the awful memories that haunted this place. Eventually, she found the tear in 'reality' that gave to the glorious blue sky.

When she emerged... she could not help but shed a few tears as she remembers the first time she saw the sun-set after, for her, tens of thousands of years locked away in the darkness.

' _Krishna, if the open sky is so beautiful in this dull world of matter, how must it look in the spiritual world?'_ She wondered to herself as she found a small, grass-covered hillock some distance away from the grounded steel behemoth.

She laid Zero on the grass, knowing that to feel mother Bhumi's motherly embrace would help the Tsukumogami remain grounded during his re-awakening.

"Alright, Zero-kun. Time for you to return to the material manifestation...I don't think you want to remain as no one and think nothing for another millennium...I know I didn't." And with that, she gently released the blond doll from his illusion of the void.

First, she reawakened his False-ego and released his mind, returning him to consciousness, then she activated his sense of touch, and held his hand... and gently touched his handsome face, like a mother would her child. And then came his hearing.

She gradually let him hear the sound coming from his body, his heart-beat...or whatever made sound in this metallic body of his, then the wind playing in the desolated valley.

"Zero, can you hear me?" She asked as she freed his movement.

She felt him gently squeeze her hand, not letting go.

"It's alright, Zero... It's over, my son...Nirvana's not as amazing as ignorant people were led to believe." She spoke to him soothingly. " No...millennia did not go by, only two hours pass...nothing more," Bahula assured the doll. "My name is Bahula Devi Dasi...Servant of the truthful cow. I know X, and I only want to best for you." She told him gently."

"I'm sorry I had to make you go through this ordeal, Zero... but short of damaging you until you could move no more, it was then best I could do."

She paused as she kept rubbing the back of Zero's hand. _'He has big hands... I have never seen anything like this before.'_ and she could feel plenty of sunshine in his wrist and heart. _'What a remarkable Tsukumogami.'_

But knowing the state he was in, Bahula decided to strike a monologue, just to let Zero reacclimated himself to the phenomenal world again.

"I was like you, centuries ago... and I succeed in becoming one with everything." She felt Zero shudder. "I know, I know... I didn't want to show you the impersonal hell, but my Best Friend told me you would not listen to reason unless soundly defeated." She admitted.

Really, Zero was no different than most Yokai she would rescue...

She gave him more access to his senses... more specifically, his eyes. She watches them open, their icy dept regaining their inner glow as he stared at the cloud-free, evening sky.

"See? DO you see this sky, Zero? Can you feel the wind? Hear it?...how does it feel? Do you want everything to return to the void?" She asked him. "Is the featureless Nirvana really what you desire? To be alone and comatose?

She could see that the doll was getting overwhelmed by emotions; no tears fell from his eyes...but she wasn't that surprised either.

" I know... I know my child, Nirvana is no better than death, and for us, the Eternal spirit souls, whose nature is to be active and in a relationship with the Divine, to merge...is equal to suicide." She spoke sadly... she could Sadly relate.

Zero turned his tired gaze at the witch...his eyes conveying a profound amount of grief and pain...and a thirst to know.

"Oh, my child... You must have suffered greatly to have the desire for spiritual death." she gently caressed his face. " We are souls...yes, even you! For you see, the main symptom of the spirit soul is desire. And yu, I can see that you desire a reason to fight, to exist...to live."

Zero's eyes opened wider, his iris blooming like a white and blue lotus.

"Zero, we are eternal, and an eternal spirit soul, our reason to exist has to be as eternal as we are. And this reason is to serve and love the chief of all eternal, the master of the senses and the Lord of the Gopis of Vraja; Krishna, the supreme personality of Godhead." She explained. "To remain in this world of matter, acting by following our conditioned mind, the three modes of material Nature and uncontrollable senses will only result in more pain and Lamentation, Zero. But to return to our eternal nature as lovers of God... no matter what happens, not even being sent to the lowest pit of hell can stop you from serving your Eternal Beloved and experiencing the highest of bliss."

"Y-You sounds like... a Christien," Zero admitted with a croak, as he kept his purple eyes on the saint. He was definitely calmer than the first time she had met him.

A wry yet kind smile drew itself on Bahula's lips. "It's not that a Gaudia-Vaishnava sounds like a Christian; they sound like us."

This got a chuckled out of the red and gold doll. "I see..." then he fell silent again, just taking in the cool breeze. Bahula remained near, quiet... yet always ready to listen.

Suddenly, Zero bolted forward, his eyes wide open! "Sigma!"

"Ah...Oh, right, I had to find this poor soul." Bahula murmured. " The poor thing must be terrified, your Hokkai."

"No, no, you don't get it." Zero tried to get up, but after a few eternities in the illusory void had left the usually nimble doll scrambling for the ground.

Bahula got up and attended the vertiginous reploid.

"Easy there, Zero... you have been in a void for twelve eternities, you're not used to normal material laws." Bahula gently pushed him down. " Sigma was the one X asked me to defeat, but I only found you here and a very evil presence," she mentioned.

Frankly, between this evil spirit and Kaku Seiga... She almost made the wicked and disgustingly lusty hermit pass for a semi-saint.

"That was sigma...what's left of him anyway." Zero huffed as he pressed his eyes closed. "He was... He's the one who corrupted the space colony...He's the virus."

"The Virus?" Bahula asked. "You mean, the Miasma, the magic."

Zero opened one eye and stared at the saint in black and white.

"From where I come from, a human can gain magic by absorbing miasma, or a special type of poison that, if done properly, can bestow an amazing array of power to those willing to take this risk," Bahula explained to the blond doll. "And you... you seemed to be filled with it. Not that it's bad... you just need to use it for good, and it will return to greyish white."

"No... here, what I have is a virus... and it turned every reploid I come in contact with murderously crazy." Zero pressed his lips together in a thin, unhappy line. "The first reploid I infected was Sigma...and were still trying to get rid of the guy..."

"Oh... I see." Bahula muttered. "I...I think I've seen him then. He was but a ghost wrapped in miasma and melted metal when I saw him, and I don't think he will ever return to cause you any more strife." the saintly Vaishnava assured an utterly floored Zero.

The doll stared at her, repeatedly blinking as he tried to compute what Bahula had just said.

The ancient witch lowered closed her eyes in a slight cringe. "Please, My son, don't crash like your friend."

"X crashed?"

"It seems he could not handle the fact that I am infected by 'the virus' and the fact that I am human," she informed X's friend.

"But... How did you... A human can't breathe in space; it can't fly and... How did it not crash?" Zero asked, clearing having a hard time computing the fact that Bahula had some mystic power. "Just... What the hell are you?" Zero asked with wide eyes.

" I'm a Witch; I can use magic to strengthen my body to a ridiculous extent... and I have lost the need to breathe centuries Ago."

The Blond Tsukumogami stared at her with his mouth wide open...

"Listen... Witches and powerful Yogi's have such type of control over their bodies... and it's not all that amazing once you have them."

Zero closed his mouth with a click... "OK... Mystic power... Let's go with that."

Internally, Bahula let out a sigh of relief; it seemed Zero's power of suspension of disbelief was stronger than X.

" I took him out of your domain, and in a cave at a safe distance from the landing site, only those who see him as a friend can go it."

"Alright...Alright." It was transparent Zero was getting agitated. "So... You're a magical human, and somehow, magic is the virus. OK... no problem...and how about Sigma, what happened to him?" He finished whit a high pitch.

"Oh... I believe the Lord who holds the Chakra has granted this soul impersonal liberation." Bahula let out a slight shudder of both bliss and horror.

Once again, the Lord had no business to bestow such mercy on her...and she was confident the faith of Sigma, in the opinion of those he had wrong, should be worst than losing his individuality and attaining Nirvana...

But knowing the reality of this place...

All impersonalist who desire to merge in Sri-Vishu's bodily effulgence attained the same Destinations as the demon the Supreme Personality of Godhead would mercifully slay, essentially putting them in a cosmic timeout.

"Wait... a cosmic timeout?" Zero weakly uttered.

"I...I spoke aloud, my apologies." Bahula bowed her head in shame, after a thousand years in Hokkai, all alone until Shinki noticed the nun; said the nun had developed the habit of talking to herself..out loud.

It was either that or her heart, for Hokkai was completely silent.

" Oh... Sound's terrible."

"Yes...case in point," she muttered, reminding herself to remain in the present. " In other words, this Sigmasura will not return... oh he will, but were talking in the next cycle, meaning the next few Aeons..."

"Aeons..." Zero whispered. "That's...too good to be true." he shook his head in a daze, to which Bahula shrugged.

"That's the thing with Krishna. Whatever he does is too good to be true and yet still true. Look at the universe we are in right now...and look at you and me!" She spoke kindly to the doll as she laid his head on her lap. "But... this will be subject for another time. Now rest... your fight is over, and when you feel ready, then I can start teaching you how to use your magick... and Bhakti-Yoga if you are so inclined."

Zero stared at the nun... a tentative smile light his lips...and then disappeared.

"My son?"

"X sent you to find me..right?" Zero asked.

"Yes, he did. This friend of yours truly cares about you..." Bahula bean to worry her lips. "He... Thought a virus-infected me. And he fainted when he learned of my human nature."

"Wait...your a... human?!" Zero asked, and Bahula feared he would have the same reaction as X.

"Yes... I'm a type of human called a witch... But before you ask me more about my nature, I assure you: your friend is fine, He was not in mortal peril, and a friend had already found him." she assured the doll as she kept caressing his head.

She felt him relax... Yes, she knew another doll, one in green had found him...

She only prayed that X would recover from his encounter; the poor thing probably never saw a witch in his entire life.

* * *

Meanwhile, back at the Maverick hunter's Base...

"X... Is everything alright there, buddy?" Douglas asked as most of his attention remained on X's diagnosis screen. "You keep staring at the ceiling. Do you see a ghost, perhaps?" He asked with a very apparent smirk. Beside him, Life-saver was pouring over some sort of document about the impact that didn't happen.

"Yes..." X answered simply as he stared at the ghost staring at him from the top of his medical pod.

His skin was sun eerily pale, and her frizzy, cotton-like hair reminded X of Cain's favourite toothpaste, wintergreen. He big eyes were also green, and their heart-shaped pupil's white and empty looking.

Well, they first appeared as such, but upon closer inspection, the visual anomaly's eyes held a power light that shone bright with...

Divinity?

Yes... there were no other words that X could use to describe it.

She wore a bright yellow shirt, a black hat with a yellow ribbon and she had a...

"That's my Third eye..." She informed him. Her voice very innocent and lacking any emotion saved for plenty of enthusiasm.

A very dark-blue third eye was floating in front of her chest; it was connected to her feet by a pair of the equally blue artery.

"Wow! You keep looking at me... and you still remember me. You must be very young then. Oh wow! You're over a hundred years old! That's not that old for a Tsukumogami, but OK... it's still impressive!"

X turned his glance back at the ever so oblivious Douglas, once again trying to send him a picture of the anomaly floating in front of his eyes.

The green reploid sighed. "X... I know you think there's a ghost, but it's clear this... entity corrupted your memory drive." Douglas informed the recovering reploid. "Just rest, and if you still see this optical glitch... just ignore it."

"No, he won't!" The apparition piped up. " I don't want to be ignored by him; he's nice and sweet and extremely lonely and stressed and unhappy. I don't want him to be alone with the other greeny either... and Gate." She pouted...right in his face. " X is my new best friend... you hear that X?"

"Oh...I see." Douglas murmured before returning to his computer screen, back at ignoring the elephant in the room...and elephant only X could see.

For all he knew... she was actually pink with yellow polka-dots.

"I...think I'm going crazy," he admitted to the best medic in the world. " Either that... or I just see something you don't."

Douglas sighed as he turned back to X. "Listen, X, I think this woman mess you up with something..." He stated sadly. "Your whole system's flooded with the virus. I counted two strains, both of them unknown to the database."

X let out a shaky breath... he was virus-proof in theory, but now he doubted if it was true. "Doug...I think this woman may be a manifestation of the maverick Virus."

"No, she's not!" the apparition yelped.

"She's... my system recognized her as human and... She can't be a human. A human can't carry the virus; a human can't fly, shoot bullets and carry _a_ _disintegrating_ _space colony_ _falling from the_ _stratosphere_ _!_ " he began to gesticulate as his logic processor tried in vain to make sense of it all.

This was not logical, and it went everything the laws of physic dictated.

"X... Calm down; we've all reviewed your recording... and were also having trouble computing what he just saw. "And I don't think the human government will be able to handle her either." Douglas ruefully admits.

In other words, X either had to tough it out as he dealt with her... or not and still face her with failing software.

X remained silent as he reviewed his memory of Bahula Devi Dasi.

She appeared very kind and motherly, and would it not be for the virus that poured out from her very pores, X would've readily called her an ally. And besides, she did nothing wrong...and she prevented two disasters.

"Will you go and look for her?" The apparition asked. "I miss Bahula..."

"M...Maybe I will." X agreed. "Say... how do you know here? And why does she... why is she infected with the sigma virus?" He asked.

"Oh, she took me in when I wandered in her Buddhist temple. She's not a Buddhist anymore now... but she was back then." She explained. "And that was not the virus, that was magic. And every Witch I know have that... expect Marisa, but Marisa's weird." Kokila added as an afterthought.

"Ah... she's a-"

"A real, honest to Krisha Witch who flies around, use magic, heals people and hunts down yokai when they are real rascal... but she's _so_ sweet, saintly and peace-loving that she ends up giving them shelter anyway." Kokila hugged herself with a grin. _"_ Her Guru-Deva called her Bahula because she super truthful and as motherly as a gir cow..."

"But how did she managed to survive the vacuum of space?" X asked. "And how did she-"

"Magick! Magick, and love of God!" Kokila chirped. "She's also a friend of Krishna, even if she can't see him yet."

X let out a sigh... "Alright... and let's just say I believe you... This means that she performed a miracle with the help of God."

"Yup!" Kokila enthusiastically nodded." And You want to go and look for her."

" I did ask her to look for Zero and Sigma." X practically admitted. " I hope Sigma didn't kill her."

"Who's Zero and Sigma?" She innocently asked. "Are they friends?"

"Sigma used to be the head commander of the Hunters three decades ago, he turned Maverick tough and... he's been causing endless wars and mayhem." X's tone darkened.

Sure, to Douglas and life-saver, he was probably talking to himself, but if he was rendered mad by this new virus... then so be it, he was tired of fighting it.

"Oh...so that's why Krishna's Sudarshana Chakra gave him liberation!" The apparition stated, her eyes widening even more in a heartbreaking show of innocence. " You don't have to worry X, he's gone now, and he won't hurt you, or Zero..." She declared with a confidence that was almost strong enough to convince the overwrought war veteran. Then, she seemingly grew confused. "who's Zero?"

"Zero's my best friend... my only real friend, really," X admitted. " He and I... we knew each other even before the war began." he grew silent.

He loved Zero in a way no one could hope to describe... and unfortunately, X knew he would never be able to reciprocate Zero's love for him even if he had an unlimited long life span.

"Oh yeah! I remember him!" The apparition chirped. "His Magic was getting out of control, and the evil spirit was making his _cra-zy_ , so Param-Atma told me to make him spaced out... so I've made his space out a bit until Bahula came there."

"Really?" X asked as he tried to sit up, only to have his restraints tighten. " how is he?"

"he _Almost_ went Crazy, but I asked God to save his sanity, and God did!" she happily chirped as she began flapping her sleeves around. "Krishna's like _super_ nice and sweet, and he's nothing like the old testament and other Jewish tradition describe him as! It's true! It's true!"

X could not help but smile at her enthusiasm. "Say... what's your name? He asked, fully aware that he had completely lost grasp of reality at this point.

" Kokila Devi Dasi!" The apparition smiled. "And can you please stop calling me an apparition? I'm a satori, not a ghost."

"Oh... so why..."

"I can control people's subconscious...and I can read minds when I feel like it. But my real power is that I'm Besties with Krishna in my heart. He says's 'Hi,' by the way!" She chirped, her genuine enthusiasm lifting a cloud that seemed to have been hovering in X's mind for a long time.

"Hello to you too, Krishna." He bides... and for a moment...

For a moment, he felt like the universe was answering back with a mischievous grin.

"X... who are you talking to?" Douglas asked, looking at X as if he had grown a second head. But the blue reploid didn't care... he didn't care at all.

He felt happy... carefree...

"A friend." He mumbled as he felt the calling of sleep. When was the last time he felt so serene and calm?

The world was in Chaos, the ocean too polluted, and Zero was still with the virus's personification. And yet... X felt confident that everything would work out in the end; he had nothing to worry about at all.

He closed his eyes...and finally got the rest he oh-so desperately need. A Nap after years of wars...

Douglas stared at X... A heavy feeling in his chest.

He had heard the whole thing...the entire conversation.

Same as Life-saver.

X... had gone mad... and for those reploids who had lost their grasp of reality, only one thing was left to do... something Douglas couldn't bring himself to.

"You've put him in sleep mode," Live-saver spoke up from his work station. His tones were unreadable as always and...

He had no business to be there...

Douglas clenched his teeth. He knew what would come next. He got up to block to greenhorn from acting on this ridiculous law!

He knew he would get into trouble, and he knew Reploids were, but tools and tools once broken had to be decommissioned...

But to Douglas... it felt wrong to do this... it felt so wrong to do so... X... this was X, this was the hero of numerous wars, the one who kept scrapping Sigma over and over again, the father of all reploids!

He deserved better than being shorted! He earned a dignified death, and... and there was still the risk of Zero turning up and Sigma... that Glitch was still out, he knew it!

How would Zero react once he learns what happened to his beloved partner, those two were practically fused to the hips. And... as much as he loathed to admit, and even think about...

' _No... I can't run this risk.' Especially_ since there had been no report of Sigma's death.

But right now, their biggest threat was a grieving Zero... without X to channel his grief away from violence.

"Yes, I've put him into sleep mode _for the night_ ," Douglas emphasized. "He's been running himself ragged trying to get the parts for the enigma cannon and the God Damned rocket; I'm sure he'll be right as rain after he let his CPU cool down and his ram defrag." He gave no room for Arguments...

He hoped.

He saw Life-saver open his can of worm... but he beat him to the punch.

He went right up the taller reploid, jabbing a finger to his chest. "Now listen here. You may be more advanced than me, greenhorn, but I'm the one who calls the shot."

"You are emotionally involved in this," Life-saver argued back. " This will affect your decision."

"Oh no, not on this one, VIVIT," Douglas growled. " Zero's still unaccounted for, but knowing our good devil, he can turn up at any moment. Now, tell me how he will react if we short X?" He asked.

"Zero's not rational when emotional, and X is the only reason why he did not utterly destroy H.Q and the capitol when his girlfriend blew up."

"He killed her."

"he had no choice."

"She went maverick."

"She had even less choice." Douglas's face darkened. " If she had surrendered, she would get shorted, and her frame studied and recycled. Zero would then dig into the human side of the Replifoce debacle and find a crypt worth of skeleton." he shuddered at the thought.

One thing Doug had learned from Zero was how he would love.

For Zero, there was no half-measure. If he loved someone, he would give everything for them, no question asked... and this love, as shown to all, would either kill him or spurn him in a fit of rage only ancient legends of the gods of the past could allude to.

The only reason Zero was still with the hunter was X... the same as why H.Q and the capital still stood.

"Listen... just give X some time; I'm sure he'll get better and won't go crazy."

Life-saver leered at the older-model, calculating... thinking.

"Fine." He inclined his head. But this was not enough for Douglas.

"And don't return to the infirmary or any other wards. We need compassionate people here, not mere robots."

Once again, Life-Saver leered at his colleague and old mentor before wordlessly leaving the ward. Leaving a despondent Douglas to look over X, praying to whoever had the ears to listen to an atheist prayer.

* * *

So... apparently, Koishi wanted to play with X.

I'm fine with that.


	3. Chapter 3

Night fell on the Nepalese valley, showing a myriad of stars to an amazed Zero.

Never in his life had he gotten the chance the bestow such an amazing spectacle, for he had always been stuck in a light-polluted city.

It was... awe-inspiring. And Zero truly felt small and insignificant in the grand scheme of things.

He heard some footsteps; it was Bahula Devi dasi coming back from her reconnaissance round.

"So... did you find anything?" Zero asked.

"No... Unfortunately, it seemed Kathmandu is bereft of humans." Bahula informed her new friend and student. "But... I do believe it will fit my temporary purpose."

Zero turned to the saintly witch, and inquisitive brow raised. " Which is?"

"To establish a refuge for those who have unjustly being labelled mavericks... and humans who are simply tired of what the material world has to offer," She explained. "And to establish to worship of Pancha-Tattva. Or the supreme personality of Godhead in Five features." She turned to Zero, a kind smile playing on her lips. "Of course, to those who seek refuge from undeserved persecution will have the choice to either worship Sri-Krishna or not; it is not mandatory."

"And why would that be?" Zero asked.

"Because Love is not something you force Zero. To worship Krishna means to love him... and love is a voluntary act." Bahula explained. "That's why it's so powerful in its soft sweetness."

Zero grunted. "So... Why do you worship him? Krishna, I mean?"

"Because the nature of all living entities is to serve. We serve our fathers, mothers, kins, country and kind... our minds and senses...we serve them all, expecting happiness." Bahula explained as she gazed up at the sea of stars. "But...as you have surely noticed, none of them can give us eternal happiness, protection and pure love, for it is all motivated and temporary."

"The soul's nature is to love and be love. And to experience such vital love, we serve. We serve either unworthy master who gives us paltry amount of wealth... or a lover who will break our heart one day."

Zero lowered his eyes.

"This material world is made of meeting and departure, and what we think is pleasure is no better than the feeling of relief one get after scratching himself."

"It's temporary then."

"Yes... But there is an eternal reality, one we, the eternal soul, belong to." Bahula began as she started to make her way toward the... not quite wreck, but not quite pristine space colony. "And we, the spiritual entity, are meant to be eternally happy, and this state of constant bliss can be attained there, In Goloka-Vrindavana."

"Oh... It's heaven, right?" Zero asked as he followed the saint.

"No... It is much higher than Swarga and definitely much higher than the Brahma-Loka. The highest planet of this solar system... I do not believe we have a western equivalence to this realm." She informed Zero. "No... This eternal realm I am talking about is existing outside this material realm. unlike here, it is self-illuminated, for it has no need for electricity or firelight... not even the sun. And there, death, old age and diseases and time are conspicuous by their absence."

"But... I thought the religion you practice was against the void." Zero asked as he kept a lookout for whatever danger may lurk in the valley.

To this, Bahula burst into sweet laughter. "Of my Son, Vaishnavism is not a religion." She informed her blond friend and newest student. " It is called, Swa-Dharma, or the practice of one's eternal nature." She explained. " This eternal nature of ours is-"

"Is to serve God out of love... isn't it?"

The saint of the white lotus gave one of her beatific smiles. "Yes indeed! But Krishna is not just the impersonal light my son, for He is the supreme personality of Godhead. The eternal person from which all eternal souls emanated and the source of the impersonal Brahman effulgence. The source of all light in all world."

" I see."

" Krishna also has a form." Bahula continued as she dived in the nectar ocean of Krishna's unlimited beauty. "The Lord's eternal form is that of a sixteen-year-old youth, his soft and flawless skin is... as blue as the sky at the moment, and it is said that his effulgent face is as beautiful as the full moon.

He wears his hair dark-blue hair long; the way it spills from his colourful turban are like dark waves, for it is soft and curly. His eyes are wide, their corners red like dawn and their iris as gold as the love that inhabits his heart."

"So... love's colour is gold then," Zero uttered with a slight smile, the first one he wore since boarding the shuttle. " I thought it was green."

"Green is the colour of Lord Rama or Dharma. The colour of amorous love is Shyam, of very dark-blue, and pure, unalloyed love is a type of Gold so pure, the rays of the sun bows in front of it."

Once again, Zero made a sound at the back of his throat.

"But to return to Sri-Shyamasundara, He wears his abundant hair as a top-knot. And on the top is a peacock feather. His feet and palms are red like the dawn, His feet are so soft and delicate, and despite that, he's always barefooted as he herds the cows." Bahula described in great bliss.

"But... why doesn't he wear shoes?" Zero quite sensibly asked. "And... what's herding cows?... what's a cow?" The reploid asked meekly.

Bahula turned to the doll; it was clear he knew more about fighting than life in general. 'Oh my lord, how sad and fallen must this place be when even the concept of a cow is unknown to this great warlock.'

"A cow is a type of Mammal, they have four hoofs, kind eyes and one of the seven mothers and God's favourite animal, for, with her milk, we make yogourt, and from yogourt, we make butter, and from this butter, we make ghee. And from ghee... well, it would usually be used as an oblation to the fire in grand Vedic sacrifice. But nowadays, we use all of those ingredients, grains, fruits and vegetables to cook For him. She is also known to feed her milk to whoever comes to her hungry. Her dung is the best fertilizer and has around a hundred different applications ranging from fuel for the fire, detergent to medicine. Same with her urine."

Zero hummed as he helped the saint to cross a gap. "Those creatures sounds super useful; no wonder they are God's favourite."

Not that she needed the help, but it was clear he wanted to serve her.

How sweet.

"Oh yes. Krishna has his favourite thing, as we all do. He is our source, after all." Bahula mentioned as she skirted around the fact that cows were slaughtered by humans, for they thought eating her flesh was natural for them...

She would tell him that later, she Zero would have more control over his anger...

Not that murderer deserved such mercy.

"I see... so, what are his favourite clothes? His favourite food?"

Bahula Chuckled; she had been worried about the lack of devotees in this most unfortunate place. Truly, Krishna had already taken care of that. "He wears a golden-yellow dhoty made of Lotus silk. He is always bare-chested, save when it is winter and during the cold morning when his loving Mother dressed in a long shirt, either in wool, cotton or silk."

"Ah, I see." Zero nodded, completely engrossed in the narration of Bahula. "He has a mother then."

"Yes, he had two, actually," Bahula revealed, taking great pleasure at Zero's innocent eyes lighting with keen interest. "When he descends on earth, his birth mother is Devaki, and his birth father is Vasudeva. But due to the persecution of his demoniac uncle Kamsa, his father hides him in Gokula, at the other side of the Yamuna river." Bahula closed her eyes as she remembered the whole pastime and the dramatic arrival of Swayam-Bhagavan Krishna in this particular universe. "There, in Vraja, his foster parents are Yashoda, the source of all mother and Nanda-Maharaja... Not that Krishna took birth, for he is the unborn Lord." she hastily explained.

"You see, the Lord doesn't really have parents, for he is the source of everything, even of Nanda and Yashoda. But," She raised a forefinger. "Because the Lord wants to taste the sweet mellows of different types of love, he manifests an unlimited variety of souls who loves him... and you and I... and every other living entity has an eternal relationship with Krishna... we just need to remember it."

"Ah? so... I have a relationship with God... me, a Robot built for world domination and destruction?" Zero asked, clearly not believing it.

"No, of course not." Bahula continued with a little smirk of her own. "For you are not a robot built for world domination and destruction, but a spirit soul inside the body-type called Robot and whose God-given ability includes the destruction of the opposing element and the possible decimation of cities. But this is still you're choice, Zero..., and I do not know about your nature... and you are not really the one destroying anything, for it is Krishna who is the ultimate doer we can only desire."

Zero stared at her, some horror leaking into his ice-blue eyes.

"We still have free will, tough." Bahula quickly added. "You don't have to follow me around Zero, let alone listen to me... and yet you do. Can you tell me why?" She tiled her head.

Zero stopped dead in his track, his eyes wild as he probably checked how he worked.

It was clear he was having an autonomy-crisis.

"Zero... You followed me around because that's what you wanted." Bahula began. "We all have a certain destiny to follow, but we can still change some of it. The Lord is not cruel, and whatever happened to use was both desired and deserve... and the Lord in our heart, being impartial, merely serves us the result of our actions as he prepares our destiny to fulfill the rest of our desires."

Zero stared at Bahula, his eyes glowing a little brighter as the saint prayed for him.

"If I get this straight." The red doll began after a whole minute of mutism. "This world is like a video game with multiple paths... God gives us those we think we want and build our life-level depending on the reaction to our past actions... good and bad."

Great joy bloomed in the saint's heart... Zero had just received his first revelation.

"But... even if we suffer the worst of the tragedy of the greatest of bliss... he's just dishing out the meal, like a judge gives out punishment or not."

"Indeed!" Bahula jubilantly said. "Krishna did say in the Bhagavat-Gita that depending on how one worship, or treat him, he will reciprocate accordingly."

"Oh... I see, like everybody else then." Zero said as he rubbed his chin. "Gods a person, meaning that he will act like one."

"Yes! Oh, Zero, you are a very quick learner!" Bahula happily praised this very special soul in a very special body, resuming her walk to her temporary dwelling, with Zero in tow. " Now, to return to his full, sweet features." Bahula closed her eyes as she remembered her Lord's beautiful form. "He wears plenty of gold and pearl necklaces, lockets, a pair of ankle bells, toe ring an opulent garland made of five different flowers and at every blink, his beauty expands unlimitedly."

She heard Zero trip and barely managed to catch him. "Oh! Zero Prabhu."

"I'm Fine. I... I guess I should not build a composite image when I walk." He sheepishly admitted. "He's... I need more information but... I don't think I can make him justice."

Bahula stared. "Ah? a... ompositer?" She asked, quite confused at the word Zero had used.

"...I... Imagined how God looks like but... I... It's doesn't feel enough...He's... to beautiful more me to grasp"

A tender smile light Bahula's lips. "Yes, the Lord's Beauty is unlimited. Still, to meditate on his form gives the highest bliss... but to have his all-auspicious viewing is very seldom achieved, my son. For one cannot force the Lord to appear, He will reveal Himself to those he chose to do so."

Zero gave a small grunt. "Well... he's a picky boy."

"Indeed... but considering that we came to this material world while willingly turning our back to Him, cursing His name and desiring to exploit everything for our own pleasure, do you really think he would show himself?"

Bahula paused. And she smiled as she realized a small fact that made Krishna even sweeter.

"Actually, the Lord did willingly showed himself to all of us, twice, actually." She revealed as she resumed her walk to the small hut Zero had made for her out of whatever debris he had found.

It was more than acceptable for the Saint of the white lotus, a simple room with a roof on it made from the debris on the metallic palanquin. And since this palanquin had once been inhabited, there had been enough mattress.

It was quite thin and made from this weird jelly-like substance, but it was adequate and protected Bahula from the cold ground. Zero even went as far as to get her some blanket for the cold night and had also fashioned a heater out of some parts... oh, and some food ration.

But after reading the ingredients, Bahula had to sadly decline the generous offering, for it either contained meat, mushroom, onion and/or Garlic.

"You.. Don't eat meat?" Zero Asked, clearly surprised and somewhat upset at the news. "But how?... Meat is an important part of a healthy human diet!"

Bahula gave a wry smile. "No... It is an important part of predator diet, a human can definitely survive eating it... but if you were to see the cost of slaughtering an innocent animal and the amount of suffering that goes trough it makes it the most abominable thing to eat short of an emergency... Besides, it's not offer-able to God."

"Meaning?"

"Meaning that the all-merciful lord Has asked us quite clearly in the Bhagavad-Gita to offer Him leaves, Flower, fruits and water with love and devotion, and he would accept them," Bahula explained as she sat down on her cot. " Would He have asked for meat, it would be what we would offer him."

" See." Zero hummed. "So you are following God's words then."

"That, I am." Bahula inclined her head as she removed her foot covering, revealing black, leather-like skin stretched upon desiccated muscles and bones.

Understandably, Zero stared.

The saintly witch gave a wry smile. " Who said I survived Hokkai unscathed?"

Zero averted his gaze as he stood outside Bahula's hut, playing the role of a guard for the woman who has given him so much.

He now had a reason to fight... No, to live.

He would help her... For he had absolutely no right to be by X's side...

Not after he had remembered his damned purpose.

As the night pass... Zero would chant to Holy name just as Bahula had shown him. But his mind could not focus on it... for he could not help but worry about his blue best and only friend.

The next morning... And X still felt amazing and, most impotently, well-rested.

His mind was clear, his purpose true, and life was amazing!

He felt alive! as if he had just found the cure for the maverick virus.

"Oh, Hey! Hare Krishna!" The fluffy greenette greeted as she stood above the capsule. "Some nightmares wanted to attack you, but Krishna and I chased them away with the sacred broom!" She excitedly declared. To which X simply smiled.

"Oh, That explains it. Thank you, Kokila."

But Kokila kept staring at him with a vapid smile... an expectant vapid smile.

"Ah... Hare Krishna?" X tried.

Kokila's smile widened. "Hare Krishna."

"... Hare Krishna." Was that what she wanted him to do? 'Seems harmless enough.'

"Krishna Krishna!"

"Krishna Krishna!"

"Hare Hare!" She lifted her arms.

"Hare Hare!" X tried to do the same, but with the lid still on... it failed miserably.

"Hare Rama." Kokila continued despite this little Hiccup.

"Hare Rama."

"Hare Rama."

"Hare Rama."

"Rama Rama"

"Rama Rama"

"Hare Hare!" Kokila finished by reaching for the unseen sky!

"Hare Hare!" X only smiled... he had no idea what it was, but... it made him happier.

Or maybe it was just Kokila's enthusiasm that was affecting him. And the fact that she was probably the most adorable being in existence when she clapped his hands like that.

"Alright! That's was great, X!" Kokila jumped off the top of the medical capsule. "So, what's the plan for the day?" She joyfully asked as she opened the lid and helped X to his feet.

"Well, I have to give my report on the failed mission... and I guess I could also take a shower."

"Yep! That sounds like a good idea!" She declared as X got out of the capsule. "Uh... I wonder were Douglas and Live-Saver went? Do you have any idea, Kokila?"

The winter-green touched her cheek, and she began to think deeply about it. "Well, Life-saver almost killed you because you were talking to me... you know, his name is very ironic, and he sees everyone as a machine, even humans."

"Hmm, I see... your right, to call him 'Lifesaver is really ironic." he agreed with his new friend. "He's a good medic, tough..."

"Is he really?" Kokila asked as she followed X out of the medical bay. But on his way out, X sent his diagnosis to Douglas, knowing that short of an emergency, the father of all reploids should not be out of the pod.

'I feel fine, and I'm virus-free...' X thought. 'Besides, I need to return to the crash site. I need to find Zero and this woman, Bahula Devi Dasi.' She held the key to the virus and... X had to return her cape.

As nice as it was to have, Doctor Light didn't make a thief out of his so-called greatest creation.

Actually, now that he thought about it... he really needs to meet this woman since magic could not be the only explanation for the super-human feat she pulled off yesterday.

'Alright... I'm still decently charged, I can skip the shower, but I really need to get back into action. I can't let other reploids approach her.' He together with a renewed sense of purpose. His strides confident and purposeful.

He made his way to the command centre, still holding on the red cloak over his shoulder. On his way, he waved at the passing personnel...

'Wow... I never noticed how everyone looks so anxious... Ether look like he's about to blow a few fuses too.' Really, it was like the base was preparing for yet another war.

"Well, you know. They still have no idea that Miss Bahula's a good person and only wants to help them. And Zero's not back, and you're looking too happy for someone's who's best Lover/brother/friend/mentor is Still missing in action."

"Lover?"

"That's what they think... But your feeling for him is even closer." She admitted.

"Yeah... We can't really put it into words, but I would readily die for him... I mean, He did the same thing for me. Twice."

"I see... and if he would go... not the way humans would want, would you still love him?" She asked again.

To this, the blue bomber paused his stride.

"I see... So your love for him is conditional." Kokila wisely spoke as she nodded to herself. "You only love him as long as it's convenient... and if he were to turn maverick, you would kill him."

"We made a promise that if one of us went maverick, the other would have to kill him."

"Why?" She prodded.

"Because being a maverick... it means you go against humanity at large."

"Why?"

"because we go against the first, second, and third law of robotic. The Asimov code."

"And is mister Asimov a human?"

"yes." X nodded. Not really caring that he was attracting a crowd.

"So... Mister Asimov gave you a moral code to follow... what did he base it on?"

"Human's safety and survival," X answered... knowing exactly where Kokila was going with this.

"Yes... But to be honest, Mister Asimov also wrote it for humans to follow. There are actually five laws of Robotic and... they have clearly being ignored here." She informed her friend as she continued down the hallway. "Mister Light and Mister Wily did a big No-No by making child-like robots with weapons..." She skipped down the hall, causing X to the sun to catch her.

"What do you mean by that?" X asked... having forgotten where he was supposed to be at the moment.

"Mister light made Blue, Rock and Roll and plenty other happy little workers. And those three looked soo human; they had fake skin and all. Light was hailed as the best roboticist while his colleague was either forgotten or ridiculed. And out of envy, Wily stole those robots and somehow made them evil." Kokila explained as she took a fire extinguisher. "But to be honest, the first one in the wrong was doctor Light, since he's the one who put three dying orphans in fancy dolls as house cleaner... you know, he must really like kids if he made them work around like housemaids."

X could not hide his cringe...

"Anyway, Human laws are all flawed anyway." Kokila declared as she skipped her way down a seemingly random corridor, humming to herself a very popular tune, the Maha-Mantra its lyrics.

X... had no idea where she was going or what was her plans, but he felt the need to follow his new friend.

She seemed to know what she was doing.

"So... If human laws are flawed, what is to be our moral north?" X asked as he began to place himself on his mental map.

She was going at the cold storage, were all mavericks were kept for further studying... but to be honest, it was more like a Necropolis. For once, the core ceased to function... then nothing, not even the memories could be accessed.

No... the reason why they kept the bodies was not for studying them, it was to keep them untouched by those humans who thought it was just a body of a machine, a doll that had human-like expressions.

For the reploids... this was a part of their 'culture'. Their death culture.

X would come down there every month to remember those he and Zero had to decommissioned. And to remember that those used to be persons, they used to have loved ones, friends...

But recently... he began to see them as mere shells empty and... cluttering the space.

"You don't have to feel bad about it though." Kokila chimed from further down the crypt's maze-like corridors. "I mean, those are just bodies, and once the person is out, it's better and wayyy kinder to just burn it," she informed the reploid as she skipped down a well-known corridor.

The one Zero would traverse practically every week.

"But... those are still-"

"Nope... a dead body's not the person. Because they left it!" Kokila declared. "You see, death is just a transition from one body to the next. Sometimes were human, sometimes animals or plants, some time were demons in hell and sometimes were demigods and celestials in heaven." She explained. "it's a perfect process called Re-in-car-na-tion!" She jumped a few times as if she was playing hopscotch in the middle of maverick tombs. Coming ever closer to the most visited sepulchre in the complex.

"I see... so, who left it?" he asked.

"The soul, Silly! Were not these bodies... since bodies are always changing and we have a new one after seven years. Well, maybe not for you... but it's true for those who have a body made of individual cells." She informed the Reploid. "So that's why robotic laws are super silly!

"Were not the body, were the soul, there's no such thing as a human soul, an animal soul and a robotic soul since the soul's the person in a body. It's like discriminating between a bike and a motorbike. Both are bikes, but the motorbike has a motor and can't go in bike lanes. But the one that's fined is the human, not the bike! And besides, the one's who are at faults for this whole maverick wars are humans because, by law, robots can't be held accountable for criminal acts~"

X stared as he computed this new information...

Robots can't be held accountable for their criminal acts... because those are just machines that are programmed but...

"Reploids are not Programmed, they are born like this... by the way, your planet is called Cybertron." Kokila pipped up. "Cain and Light did a big bobo and the only one that was capable of stopping them was a mad man who had no idea what he was doing. And those who were not robots were cybertronien that were smart enough to realize that cars were not the main species there... Oh, wait! That was just for a fanfiction I read about in which you were a girl and..."

At this point, X's processor couldn't follow the greenette and simply began to nod as Kokila expounded on his skill as a mother... while he wilfully discarding his over-reliance on the Asimov law.

He was a free-willed android... No, the spirit soul inside the body made of metal-like matter. it was grend time he began to act like it

"So... why did you bring me there?" He asked his silly new friend. " I doubt you'd want to stay in a crypt." He didn't want to stay there now... he had no reason to.

"Oh... I'm used to it." Kokila chimed. Shocking X to no end. "Buuuuut... It's more like a Hell crypt than a robot crypt." She mentioned as he located the viral container holding the remains of Iris.

X was still not sure what to think about Zero's obsession with visiting this particular dead body every week. It was not like he could do anything for her anymore...

"Say, Kokila?" X addressed his friend. "What really happens when a reploid dies?" he asked, his voice rebounding weirdly in the cavernous vault's expanse.

"The same thing as a human, you get a new body... But this type of death has to be natural."Kokila explained. "Basically, we all have a certain number of breath to draw. Some have a super long life while other has super short life... and those who are not accepting that they are about to change their bodies will remain around as ghost!" She finished her explanation as she began ripping the containment lid off of Iris's grave... "Oh, and violent death does that too... except for actual warriors, for them, they go to Swarga."

And X let her... she must have her reason. "Oh, I see... So all of those reploids I've killed are ghosts now."

"Hmm-hmm." Kokila once again nodded as she pulled the magnetic slider –along with the remains- out of the little nook. "You know, some really hate you and some are just sad they fell prey to the maverick virus... you better start chanting the Hare Krishna Maha-Mantra for them tough, cause there a vengeful penguin eating away at your subtle body... and a peacock is doing his best to protect you, how sweet!" She informed the father of a cursed race as she pulled Iris's remains from the containment units.

"Oh yeah, Cyber-Peacock and Chill Penguin."

"God loves Peacock, He wears their feathers on his turban, He and His Radha have peacock outfit, they can turn into peacock and God once outperformed heavenly high society girl by strutting beside them as the most attractive peacock." Kokila declared as she began to make her way out of the crypt with X in tow... and Iris's remains.

"Wow... and how about eagles?" X asked. "By the way, do you want me to carry that?" He asked as he gestured to the colourful dead weight Kokila was holding.

"Nah, I'm good." The sunny girl didn't seem to mind it at all. " And yes, Vishnu loves eagles too, His carrier is the Mighty Garuda. And Garuda's his best friend Sridhama in Goloka." Then she gasped. "Oh my God... I soo need to tell you the story of Jatayu!"

"What type of Story is it?" X asked as they made their way out of the grim place. 'I need to tell Signa's to clear everything out... I think jet fuel would be the most efficient way to burn all those corps, or maybe nuclear destabilization?"

"Yeah! That would be a great idea... we just need to have Uttara with us." Kokila piped up. "Anyway, it's a story that will make you cry. Because Jatayu's the bravest and most fortunate bird around. It's true!"

"Oh really?" X perked up, his smile bright and his eyes shining with deep interest. " Can you tell me more?"

"Oh, Course I can!"

"Yay!" X could not contain his excitement... and those who traversed the corridor their worry.

"Oh... I see. So this is the type of world you live in." Bahula spoke to Zero as she and the reploid began to clear up the Eurasia space station. "You all definitely need Krishna-Consciousness here, for anything else will just end up having dire consequences in the long run."

"Yeah... If you say so." Zero mumbled as he cut away at an old door, Mother Bahula desired to have the damaged space colony turned into a proper shelter for the persecuted Reploids. AkA, mavericks.

Zero would've scoffed at the idea, but after explaining to this otherworldly woman from wonderland about the whole Reploid/Human politics and the conflict that had arisen. The Aspiring Vaishnavi had been horrified.

She thought Reploids had souls... and from her description of what was a soul, the red android could not help but... agree.

Beside... Iris's words when she turned had always struck a chord.

"I... Just want to live in... a place just for us... for reploids..."

A place just for reploids... meaning a place where no humans would force them into fruitless, a place where they would be treated as persons and not as appliances... A place where they would be respected and permitted to love and pray.

They would not be gawk at... and they would not be treated as soulless objects. For what was soulless had no desires... no want and no lust. They simply performed tasked following the most logical outcome produced by their algorithmic calculation.

But... Zero was not so dangerously optimistic as to believe that it would solve all problems. Sigma was gone, meaning that there was now a power vacuum... and who knows who would fill the gap.

'Maybe I should.' He thought, now aware of his true powers and purpose.

Well... not the 'Destroy X' Part since his partner never did something to warrant it... save for the time where he had requested Zero to take care of him would he turn Maverick...

Well, now he had a place where he could, with a woman who cared for a bunch of dangerous robots she never met... just because she felt that there was an injustice there.

And she wanted to teach him Yoga... Bhakti-Yoga. And how to use his magic more efficiently in the service of the Lord, Krishna, the supreme personality of Godhead.

Once again, would he have met her on the street, Zero would probably have called the mental hospital for the poor woman.

But... After all that had happened to him... Zero was willing to give her a chance.

Besides... wasn't there a saying about how insanity was to do the same action and expecting a different result?

Zero had hunted down maverick for more the twenty years now... being the chief propagator of the virus didn't actually worked in anyone's favour but... He also had a feeling Sigma was the one who made it worst.

Otherwise, if Zero really had been the first ever viral carrier, then the first victims would have followed him and not Sigma. And how about all the other reploids that hang out with him, his Zeroth unit, and Life-saver?

No... the more the red Ripper thought about it, the less his Virus made sense.

"Zero?"

"Yes, Mother Bahula?"

"You seemed lost in thought." She stated. "Is there something you care to share?" She gently asked.

Zero was about to tell her no... but then, something told him that... she was a safe person. And he was not ready to return to X yet.

Not after the crazy voice of his creator ordering him to destroy X still kept ringing in his processor. It's echo now the most annoying thing in the world

"You know, to share what burdens your heart will lighten the load... and I promise that I will not hastily judge you, I will merely listen," Bahula Assured him.

Zero sighed as he entered the room he had just open. They had yet to reach the upper level, but Zero knew there would be nothing to find.

While the Enigma had only managed to divert Its course, the damage had been significant. And if there had been anything alive in it, it would be dead by now.

"Mother..." He began. " Can another person's... magic turn others mad?" He asked as he inspected the room... a way to keep his mind clear as he waited for the answer.

"No," Bahula answered. " Magic... pure ether may cause one to become a bit more quirky, but never murderous." She explains. " But... to some who are already demoniac at heart, they may take this opportunity to act on their destructive desires." She explained as she moved some rubles away. "Power corrupts..."

"So... Sigma was just one in a million and... how about all the rest of the mavericks me and X killed?" Zero asked, looking at the witch as if she held the answer to all questions.

"You told me you were all free-willed." She answered simply. "My dear Zero... We all have to power to choose a given path. But we have to be aware that we are also fated a certain number of possible paths."

Zero turned to the saintly witch."But why do they chose to be evil? Why do they chose useless wars over Peace?" He asked her, his voice breaking. "They have a choice, we all have it. I get that... but why do they follow Sigma? Even the nice and sane reploids fall for him and..."

The sight of his sweet Iris; once so bright and pure spouting about how reploids should have a place just for themselves... how she and Zero could make a life somewhere... just the two of them.

It was a nice prospect, to be sure... But Zero was a bit leery about it.

Did she wanted to move away from Abel and live alone with Zero in the most remote place they could find or... Was it more sinister?

And how about Colonel? This man had chosen death over a peaceful resolution. Fighting until the bitter end by Zero's sabre, dooming his sister in the process.

Nevertheless... it was another innocent he had to slain.

He felt a gentle hand on his shoulder, and for a moment, he thought his sweet Iris had returned from beyond the grave.

But no... It was Bahula, the kind witch.

"In the Bhagavad-Gita as it is, Sri Arjuna, Krishna's best friend asked the Lord the same question." She began as she had him sit down.

"God has a best friend?" Zero asked, his purple eyes growing wide.

"Of course he does! He is the source of all relationships, meaning, he must also have friends, family and intimate associates." Bahula happily informed the Reploid. "But to return to what I was about to say... Or, What Krishna was about to tell Arjuna... It's lust alone Zero, that will push a man... and a woman, to perform the most horrific of the act." The saint told him.

"Lust...huh? So, Freud was right." Zero pursed his lips. remembering the astounding amount of sexualy charged jokes and inuedo's that were floating around the canteen at any given time. especially to those who where more humans then animals... and who where not called Lifesaver or Signas. there was always this... vile Aura around those conversation, a type of... ill feeling that the Red Reploid would get away from as fast as he could.

"Partly," Bahula admitted. "Everything in this material world is aimed at Sex pleasure, for it is considered the highest pleasure." She began. "But lust does not only denote the desire for enjoying a partner...but whatever sense gratification will take us away from Krishna."

Zero Grunted.

"Lust means 'For me and only for me.' It's, 'I, Me and mine.'"

"It's selfishness." Zero resumed. "You just want to have fun and pleasure by exploiting others."

A bright and beatific smile light Bahula's youthful face. "Yes! And this exploitative nature is the source of all misery and human tragedy in this world." She explained... and Zero could not help but agree.

Oh... He may not be as smart as X, but he did notice how everything went to hell because someone wanted his ass to be on the throne... and didn't care for others.

"Bhakti-Yoga is the process by which this lust is turned back into love. Love for God." Bahula continued.

Zero's apparatus opened wide. "So... Lust is the opposite of love!"

"Divine love for Krishna," Bahula explained. "All souls have the ability to love, Zero... but they chose to love themselves only and maybe those that had a connection to the body they inhabited. And in doing so, became afflicted by the blazing fire of lust... and this Lust will consume everything."

Zero remained quiet as he mulled things over...

Bahula patted his back. "It's alright... take your time, my son."

"I... I expected to be destroyed... not. Not living and..." Zero struggled to put his feelings in words.

"Yes... And learning about the Supreme and Absolute truth." Bahula spoke kindly. " I may not know you, But I have a feeling you went through plenty of pain and suffering caused by others' lust."

Zero let out a snort... that was one way to say it.

He felt Bahula's soft and delicate hand grasp his own as she began patting it. "Do you want to talk about it? It will help lighten the load."

Zero turned his jaded eyes toward the saint. What he was there were raw compassion and love...

Real love... Not lust.

She wanted nothing but Zero's happiness.

The red reploid lowered his eyes, looking at the more or less intact floor.

"It's... not a pleasant story."

"I don't doubt it," Bahula stated. "But to keep it in your heart will just keep hurting you." She interrupted him before he could even retort. "And no, you don't deserve this pain Zero, For by doing so, you are torturing your Best Friend in your heart."

"If God's my best friend, then why did he let this happen?" Zero asked as he peered into the saint's eyes.

A sad smile light Bahula's lips. "My dear Zero... Krishna cries for our day and night as he witnesses our suffering. He wants us to return to him and to live the blissful, eternal life we were meant to have..." Then her smile fell. "but we turned our back to Him, thinking we did not need him or his advice."

Both fell silent... Until Zero broke it with his gentle tenor.

"So... you're telling me that." He licked his lips, a purely human habit he had picked up from X. "The reason why were suffering so much is that... We forgot God?"

Bahula nodded as she released an anxious sigh. "Yes... It's not that Krishna hates us, far from it. It's just the nature of this world that no one can be happy."

"Hmm..." Zero grunted.

"We are all entitled to a certain amount of mysery and pleasure, But Krishna Consciousnesses makes us strong enough so that the dualities of this world do not affect us."

"Hot and cold, day and night, good and bad... pain and pleasure. We have to learn how to tolerate them all, for we are the spirit souls, an aloof witness to this drama we call material life."

The Soul... we cannot be affected by whatever the material reality sends at us. We are so small and so subtle, nothing can see us save the pure souls free from their false-Ego and God. We can't be burn, moistened by water, buffeted by the wind, cut by any sword or cleaver... and not even magic and the atomic bomb can destroy us."

Zero's brows went up to his hidden hairline. "Are you serious?!"

"Oh yeas, Absolutely!" Bahula assured the war machine. "The body will eventually meet with destruction, but the soul will always remain. And I know someone who met a few ghosts from Nagasaki and Hiroshima."

The reploid's mouth fell open.

"yes, Ghosts do exist... I have a few Ghost I call good friends." She admitted. "Now... please tell me more about yourself... I know it's very sudden, but trust this old nun; a grieving heart heals faster when its pain is shared."

Zero looked at the thoughtful nun, her eyes holding a wisdom a twenty-something women should not possess.

He knew he could keep it in, Zero knew he had no obligation to this woman save the fact that she saved the world and himself...

"So..." Zero sighed as he prepared himself to drag from the mire of his overburdened RAM and ROM, all of those painful moments that kept hunting him. "It all started when I woke up in Cain Industries Lab...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hold a begging bowl for review, please give me alms?

**Author's Note:**

> Bahula is the name of a cow that was so truthfully, Lord Krishna saved her and gave her the post of one of his dear Gopi in her next life. not only that, but Bahula gave her name to the forest in Wich Radha-Kund...and Shyama-Kund. The holiest place in the universe.
> 
> Also... I love writing about Byakuren Hijiri, she's one of my role models, to be honest.
> 
> Also, Byakuren and Zero are of the same size, 5'7. Same thing for X and Toyosatomimi no Miko being 5'3. Just so you know.


End file.
